VCU vs Rush--help me decide!

[morgMD]

Help me decide! For context: I am interested in surgery and am from northern Virginia/went to school in Virginia as well.

Rush:
Pros
-Chicago is a very cool city
-Connected well with the staff and student interviewers. Everyone seemed very inclusive and personable.
-Healthy learning environment with a lot of student support
-Good Ortho program and I'm interested in Ortho (not sure I would want to stay in Chicago though)
Cons
-More expensive tuition and cost of living (about $65,000 more in tuition alone)
-Further from family and friends (expensive plane tickets)
-In a large and unfamiliar city, which can be intimidating

VCU:
Pros
-Closer to family and friends from undergrad
-Affordable tuition and lower cost of living
-I know several students who went thru this program and really loved it!
-Richmond is a smaller and slightly more familiar city

Cons
-Richmond feels like it is more familiar, even though I have never lived there, and I was looking forward to living somewhere brand new

I am not sure which school is "better" or has more recognition nationally (bc I am from Virginia), so if anyone has any info on that, please let me know!! I'd rather go to a stronger school with better residency matches!
Thanks for any input or insight!

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[The Beta Blocker]

VCU. Generally, if two programs are similarly ranked (which these ones are), you should decide based on overall compatibility and cost. VCU has pretty high match rates into surgery (much higher than Rush, and actually has more matches into Ortho as well!) and a much lower cost. Familiarity isn't always a bad thing! Richmond will 100% feel exciting and new once you start med school. $65k times 4 is not worth the novelty of Chicago.

 

[Shunsui]

65k more for all 4 years?

 

[deleted1094730]

VCU. Generally, if two programs are similarly ranked (which these ones are), you should decide based on overall compatibility and cost. VCU has pretty high match rates into surgery (much higher than Rush, and actually has more matches into Ortho as well!) and a much lower cost. Familiarity isn't always a bad thing! Richmond will 100% feel exciting and new once you start med school. $65k times 4 is not worth the novelty of Chicago.

OP probably means $65k difference for all 4 years. Rush is a very well-reputed school across the nation and has been known to be matching well across the country. Also, matches in certain specialities should be taken with a grain of salt. If the class has more students that want to go into surgery then there will be more matches so it doesn't say much about the school's ability to open these doors for the students but more about the preference of the students in that class. Either of these schools would allow you to match into any speciality of your choice. It just really depends on where you want to be in terms of location (big/new city vs small/familiar city). Take into account the opportunities you may have by being in Chicago/Medical District and being able to do research at other schools in the area

 

[mapleapple55]

Rush easily. You would have the chance to rotate at Rush Medical Center (t20 hospital) and Cook county (one of the best places to rotate) plus it's a great opportunity to finally get out and go to a new place. Chicago is absolutely amazing too